Must-have workforce management software RFP template in 2025

Workforce management is more than tracking hours—it’s the system that ensures labor is scheduled, recorded, and paid correctly while keeping businesses compliant and employees engaged. When it’s manual and fragmented, teams waste hours reconciling timesheets, reworking payroll, and responding to compliance issues.

A modern workforce management (WFM) platform should unify time tracking, scheduling, payroll readiness, compliance, and analytics in one system that’s automated and deeply connected to HR, IT, and Finance. That way, every clock-in, schedule change, or overtime request flows seamlessly into the rest of your business.

This guide outlines the most important areas to evaluate in an RFP for workforce management software. We’ll share sample vendor questions and a free downloadable template so you can start evaluating workforce management software companies efficiently and effectively.

1. Time and attendance

Time capture is the foundation of workforce management. If hours are tracked incorrectly, everything downstream—payroll, compliance, cost reporting—falls apart. Your system should support multiple clock-in methods (web, mobile, kiosk, biometric, geolocation), apply attestations for compliance, and flag exceptions like missed punches or overtime in real time. Approved hours should flow directly into payroll without manual exports.

Rippling Time & Attendance automates the full process. Employees clock in via web, kiosk, or mobile with GPS verification if needed. Managers see exceptions in real time, can approve edits quickly, and have an audit trail for compliance. Once approved, hours sync directly into Rippling Payroll—no CSVs, no reconciliation headaches.

Questions to include in your RFP:

• What time capture methods are supported (mobile, kiosk, biometric, GPS)?

• How are exceptions flagged for managers in real time?

• Do approved hours flow automatically into payroll?

• Is there an audit trail of edits, approvals, and attestations?

2. Scheduling and shift management

Schedules determine whether your business is covered, compliant, and within budget. A strong WFM system should let managers build schedules based on employee availability, roles, and certifications, while minimizing overtime. Employees should see schedules, swap shifts, and claim open shifts from their phones. Schedules must stay synced with timecards to avoid discrepancies.

With Rippling Scheduling, managers build compliant schedules using live employee data—like certifications, PTO balances, and pay rates. Employees get mobile notifications, can swap or pick up shifts, and managers can approve changes instantly. Because Scheduling and Time & Attendance live in the same platform, changes flow directly into timecards and payroll.

Questions to include in your RFP:

• Can schedules be built based on roles, availability, and compliance rules?

• Can employees view and manage schedules via mobile?

• Does the system minimize overtime automatically?

• Do schedules stay synced with time and payroll data?

3. Compliance and policy enforcement

Wage-and-hour compliance is one of the highest-stakes risks in workforce management. Systems should enforce federal, state, and local rules for overtime, breaks, and meal periods automatically. Employees may need to attest to meal breaks or hours worked, and non-compliant timecards should be flagged before payroll runs. Robust reporting is essential for audits and regulators.

Rippling enforces compliance by tying policies directly to the employee record. Daily and weekly overtime, meal breaks, and attestations are tracked in real time, and managers are alerted to issues immediately. Compliance reports are always audit-ready, reducing the risk of costly penalties.

Questions to include in your RFP:

• How does the system enforce overtime, break, and meal rules?

• Can employees submit attestations automatically?

• How are non-compliant timecards flagged before payroll?

• Can compliance reports be generated on demand?

4. Payroll-ready calculations

Workforce management is only valuable if it feeds clean data into payroll. Systems should handle multi-rate employees, shift differentials, weighted overtime, and job costing automatically. Hours need to map to general ledger (GL) dimensions like department, project, or cost center for accurate reporting. Payroll previews are critical for catching issues early.

Rippling unifies WFM with Payroll and Finance. Approved hours flow into payroll automatically with all the right rates, premiums, and allocations applied. Finance teams get GL-ready data by department, project, or entity, eliminating manual reconciliation.

Questions to include in your RFP:

• Can the system handle multi-rate employees and shift differentials?

• Does it calculate weighted overtime automatically?

• Can hours map to GL dimensions (department, project, location)?

• Are payroll previews available before payroll closes?

5. Employee and manager experience

Adoption lives or dies on usability. Hourly employees need an app that makes it simple to clock in, see their schedules, swap shifts, and request PTO. Managers need push notifications for overtime risks, missed punches, and schedule gaps, with the ability to approve quickly on mobile.

Rippling gives employees and managers one app for all workforce tasks: time, schedules, PTO, pay stubs, and more. Employees see the full impact of overtime or premiums on their timesheets, and managers approve requests with a tap. This drives adoption and reduces support tickets.

Questions to include in your RFP:

• Can employees manage all workforce tasks in a single app?

• Do managers receive mobile alerts for overtime and exceptions?

• Can employees see the pay impact of overtime or premiums?

• Is the app fully functional across iOS, Android, and web?

6. Approvals, workflows, and permissions

Approvals are where compliance and speed meet. The system should support conditional workflows that route requests and exceptions automatically—like overtime requiring both Ops and Finance approval. Permissions should be role-based and dynamic, updating automatically when an employee changes jobs or locations. Every approval and action should be logged.

Rippling’s Workflow Studio lets teams configure if/then automations across WFM, HR, and Finance. Approvals update automatically as roles change, and permissions are tied directly to the employee record—so access is always up to date.

Questions to include in your RFP:

• Can workflows be customized by role, location, and policy?

• Do approvals update automatically when employee attributes change?

• Are permissions role-based and dynamic?

• Is every approval and action logged for audits?

7. Analytics and reporting

Workforce data is one of the biggest levers for planning and cost control. The system should offer real-time dashboards for overtime, coverage, and labor costs. Non-technical users should be able to build reports, and data should integrate with payroll and finance metrics for a complete picture.

Rippling’s analytics engine sits on the Employee Graph—the unified data model across HR, IT, and Finance. Leaders can join time, payroll, and finance data in real time, building custom dashboards without BI support.

Questions to include in your RFP:

• Can managers self-serve dashboards within permissions?

• Can WFM data be joined with payroll and finance data?

• What prebuilt reports are included (overtime, coverage, exceptions)?

• Can reports be scheduled and shared securely?

8. Finance integration

Labor is often your largest expense, so workforce management software must connect directly to Finance. Approved hours and labor costs should flow into your ERP/GL automatically, categorized by project, department, or entity. Reconciliation reports and variance tracking should be standard.

Rippling integrates WFM with Finance by design. Hours flow into Payroll and GL, mapped to the right cost centers, with automated journal entries and reconciliation reports—so Finance trusts the data and can forecast with confidence.

Questions to include in your RFP:

• Does the system integrate WFM data directly into ERP/GL?

• Can labor costs be categorized automatically?

• Are reconciliation and variance reports included?

• How does the system support workforce planning and budgeting?

9. IT and identity integration

Workforce management doesn’t stop at hours—it’s also about access. When someone clocks in for the first time or switches roles, their apps and devices should be updated instantly. WFM should integrate with IT systems for provisioning, deprovisioning, and access control, ensuring security and compliance.

Rippling unifies WFM with IT. When roles change, permissions update everywhere—from schedules and time policies to app and device access. Offboarding automatically revokes access and locks devices, reducing risk.

Questions to include in your RFP:

• Can WFM data trigger IT provisioning or deprovisioning?

• Are WFM permissions tied to the same employee record as HR and IT?

• Does the system integrate with SSO and identity providers?

• Can access be revoked automatically at termination or role change?

10. Global and multi-entity support

For global and multi-entity organizations, workforce management software must localize rules by location while still rolling up into unified reporting. That means supporting multiple currencies, time zones, and compliance laws while keeping labor data consolidated for executives.Rippling adapts policies and fields by location automatically, while rolling up reporting across entities. Global payroll and EOR are available alongside U.S. WFM, so all employees are managed in the same system.Questions to include in your RFP:

• Does the system localize rules by country and state?

• Can you support multi-entity orgs with separate permissions?

• Do schedules and timecards adapt to local time zones and currencies?

• Can reporting roll up globally while staying segmented locally?

How Rippling helps enterprises

Rippling is the only platform that unifies HR, IT, and Finance—so WFM isn’t a bolt-on, it’s part of the same system that runs your business. Employees and managers use one app for time, schedules, PTO, and pay. Approved hours flow directly into payroll, GL, and IT systems. Policies and permissions update instantly when roles change, across every system. Global and multi-entity companies get localized compliance with consolidated analytics. And implementation is fast because it’s all built on a single source of truth.With Rippling, workforce management stops being a patchwork of systems and becomes an integrated, automated foundation that keeps your business compliant, efficient, and scalable.

Rippling RFP for workforce management software example

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This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of September 15, 2025.